Mail-bag



UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.. d

FREDERIC E. HUNT, on LEAvENwoETH, KANsAs.

MAIL-BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,111, dated August 30, 1887.

Application filed June 27,1887.

To all whom t may concern.'

De it known that I, FREDERIC R. HUNT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leavenworth, in the V county of Leavenworth and Stateof Kansas, have inventedcertaiu new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bags; and I do declare'the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying` drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mail-bags, and has for its objects to construct a bag which can be expeditiously cl-osed and opened and locked and unlocked, which cannot be opened except by authorizedy persons, and which will have folds or flaps so applied and secured that none of the mail-matter can possibly be extracted from the bag, nor become soiled or damaged by any element or substance entering through the mouth of the bag when the bag is closed and locked.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and Y such other objects and purposes as may result from the construction theinvention consists in the construction hereinafter particularly described, and afterward defined by the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof', and in which-- Figure l is a perspective of the upper portion ofa bag, showing it locked, with a portion broken away to show the several parts. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the folds and locking parts of the bag. Fig. 3 is a crosssection on the line a z of Fig.'1. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line y y of Fig. l.

In the drawings, the letter A designates the bag, which has a flap, B, extended from, say, its front side, C, so as to permit it to be folded over the mouth of the bag and lie, say, on the rear side of the bag. This'vfiap may be formed separately from the bag and riveted or other-y wise secured thereto, but ispreferably made of the same piece and as a continuation of the body of the bag. A second ap, D, extends from the side of the bag opposite to that from which the iirst iap extends, and is designed to fold over the mouth or top edge of the bag and lie against the side lopposite to that on which the rst flap lies. By such construction there are provided two aps at the mouth of the bag7 both adapted to fold over in opposite directions and lie upon opposite faces or sides of the bag, sothat a double protection is afforded at the mouth. The second iiap, D, may be formed in any suitable Way; but a good way is that illustrated inthe drawings, and in which it is represented as secured to the body of the bag by a series of rivets.

The flap-Gis provided on its inside face with any desired number of projecting headed bolts E and a staple, F, secured in any suitable way-say by plates b, which may be riveted tol the iiap. 'These bolts are designed when the flap is folded over the mouth of the bag to pass through holes or eyes c in the vrear of the bag, and thence through corre sponding holes, d, in the front of the bag, while the staple F will pass through a slot, e, and thence through a slot, f, arranged similarly to the holes or eyes c and d. When so applied and placed, the headed bolts and staple are brought toV project on, say, the front side of the bag. The eyes and slots inthe bag material may be strengthened by the plates g, which may be riveted or otherwise suitably secured to the bag.

The iiap D has holest and slot j formed in it `'for the passage of the bolts and staple, and also has secured to the outside face of its overlapping portion,by means of sleeves or keepers G, a strap, H, which slidesin said sleeves or keepers. This strap may have loops I at opposite ends to facilitate ldrawing it back and forth, and is formed with a series of elongated slots, J, each terminating in an eye, K,which eyes, when the strap is in an unlocked position, match withV the eyes in the flaps, so as to permit the head of the bolts E to pass through. The strap is also formed with a slot, 71which, when the strap is in a locked position,matches with the slots e and f for the passage of the staple F. To stiffen and strengthen the strap and give security thereto it is formed at intervals with plates L, secured thereto by rivets or otherwise. One of these plates is formed with a slot to correspond with that in the strap for the passage of the staple, and the others are formed with elongated slots and eyes cor roo responding to those in the strap, and may be designated by thesame reference-letters. These plates lie mostly within the sleeves or keepers G, and their ends are preferably beveled and may be rounded, so that when the strap is moved longitudinally the plates will enter the keepers without their ends striking against the edges of the keepers.

The keepers will be made of such length that nobendingofthestrap orbagwill bringthehead of the bolt and eye of the strap in such rela tive positions that the strap might be slipped from over the head of the bolt, and access be thus had toy the bag. The keeper therefore serves to keep the parts in locking position, and yet permit sufficient space to be left between the platesL as to give more or less flexibility to the strap, as may be desirable. Vhen the bag `is loeked,the bolt will lie at the end of the slot removed from the eye and the bolt passed through the several parts, as shown in the broken-away port-ion of Fig. 1, and the eye will lie within the keeper near one end, as shown at thekeeper, which ispartially broken away for that purpose. A mail-bag lock will of course be applied to the staple.

To limit the play of the strap I prefer to ap ply the stops M thereto at opposite ends, so that when they strike against the end keepers the movement of the strap will be stopped.

As a further safeguard against snrreptt tiously opening the bag,I apply studs Natintervals across the flap C, and form sockets O on the inside face of the flap D at such point that when the iiapC is folded and lies against the back of the bag in a locking position, as shown in the several figures, the said studs will enter and lie within said sockets, so that the flaps cannot be pulled or moved laterally or otherwise in an attempt to force the hand or an implement into the bag to extract some of the mail-matter.

The preferred manner of making the studs is to form them of pieces of leather and secure them by rivets to Athe flap, and likewise the sockets may be formed by cutting pieces out of a strip of leather and securing the strip to the back flap by rivets. It will be observed that some of the studs and sockets lie in the spaces between the bolts, so that the parts are secured at close intervals.

In closing the bag the flap C is turned back, so as to fold over the mouth of the bag and lie against the back thereof, which brings the bolts and staple in line with the holes and slot in the bag, so that they will pass directly through them. Then the flap D is folded over onto the front of the bag, which throws the eyes and slot in that Hap over the bolt and staple, which, in passing through the eyes and slots,also pass through the eyes ofthe strap or slide H. The strap is then with a quick movement pulled sidewise, which brings the headed bolts into the slots of the strap and the staple into its slot in the strap, and the parts are then ready to have the lock applied to the staple to securely lock them in place. In opening, after the lock is removed, the strap is drawn back, the flap D thrown back, and the flap C lifted with quick successive movements and the bag is open for thereception of the mail-matter.

I have described what I consider to be the best detailsof construction of the several parts, but without meaning to limit myself thereto where immaterial changes can be made and my invention still be employed.

Having described my invention and set forth its merits, what I claim isl. A mail-bag formed with eyes for the pas sage of headed bolts, and a flap to fold over the mouth and lie on one side ofthe bag, and provided on said side with headed bolts to pass from that side to the other of the bag through said eyes, and means for securing the parts together, substantially as described.

2. A mail-bag having a flap to fold over the mouth and lie on one side of the bag, a second flap to fold over the first, headed bolts passing through eyes in the front and rearsides of the bag and through one of the flaps, and means for securing the parts together, substantially as described.

3. A mail-bag having a flap to fold over the mouth of the bag and formed with eyes, headed bolts projecting from the sides of the bag to pass through said eyes, a slide secured to the outside of said flap and provided with eyes, and elongated slots extending therefrom to receive said bolts and prevent the flap from being raised, sleeves or keepers for said slide to move in and to prevent the slide from being lifted to disengage it from thebo1ts,and means for locking said parts together, substantially as described.

4. In a mail-bag having headed bolts projeeting from one side, and a iap formed with eyes for the bolts to pass through, a slide secured to the outside of said iiap and formed with eyes and slots for the bolts to pass through, sleeves or keepers for the slide to move in, and stops to limit the movement of the slide, substantially as described.

5. A mail-bag composed of the following elements: a flap secured to the bag and provided with headed bolts and a staple to pass through eyes and a slot formed in the sides of the bag, a second Hap to fold over the bag and having eyes and a slot for said bolts and staple to pass through, a slide formed with eyes and slots to receive the bolts and staple, and keepers or sleeves for the slide to move in and to assist in preventing the slide from being disengaged from the bolts and staple, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERIC R. HUNT.

Vitnesses:

CHARLES W. HANDY, WM. G. HENDERSON.

ICO 

